Chicago City Wire

Union League Club of Chicago Board Member Richard Yant recently told a Senate Redistricting Committee hearing he supports fair redistricting maps as a matter of sound public policy.

“Among the primary objects of the Union League Club of Chicago are to inculcate a higher appreciation of the value and sacred obligations of American citizenship, to aid in the enforcement of all laws enacted to preserve the purity of the ballot box and to resist and oppose corruption,” Yant recently told Senate Redistricting Northwest Cook County Committee members.

He later added "it was to further the primary objects of the Club that, in 2015, the Union League Club supported adoption of the amendment to establish a non-partisan, independent commission to draw maps for Illinois legislative districts in a fair and transparent manner.”

Yant is among a growing number of public policy influencers now seeking to slow down the process to make certain residents can be heard on the issue of redistricting until after all the most updated and relevant Census Bureau data can be tabulated and used in the formula, even if it means having to ignore the initial June 30 deadline for the process to be completed.

Yant told lawmakers that The Union League has taken positions on matters of public policy many times before, with its bylaws requiring that before doing so the matter must be weighed by its Public Affairs Committee. Following consideration by that committee, the position will only be endorsed by the club if it is adopted by its board.

With witness after witness turning out to be heard on the issue and the overall need for transparency, Republican state Sen. Dan McConchie said lawmakers need to make certain they do the right thing.

“Instead of politicians using this process to protect their own political power, people should be able to choose their elected officials, not the other way around,” he said. “The current process keeps politicians in complete control of the process and that I believe needs to change.”